Saving Severus Snape
by Enigmatix
Summary: After Harry realised that the man who had tried to save him all the time was now dead, He and Hermione went back in time to try and alter the past. Their MISSION: To make sure Severus Snape turned out alive in the end after all!


AUTHOR: MS. FELICITY

TITLE: SAVING SEVERUS SNAPE

TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE: ONE SHOT: WITHIN SIX HOURS

SUMMARY: AFTER HARRY REALISED THAT THE MAN WHO HAD TRIED TO SAVE HIM ALL THE WHILE WAS NOW DEAD, HE AND HERMIONE WENT BACK IN TIME TO TRY AND ALTER THE PAST. THEIR MISSION: TO MAKE SURE SEVERUS SNAPE TURNED OUT ALIVE AFTER ALL!

...

'Are you sure you want to do this Harry?' Hermione asked as she put the chain around his neck as well as hers and waited on him to think it over. It was a Time Turner Professor McGonagall had given her that had helped her to manage to get to all her classes.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing by the castle entrance, mere hours after the defeat of Lord Voldemort as students were now preparing to go home and teachers were trying to maintain some sort of order within the school grounds.

Professor McGonagall was waving her wand this way and that trying to remove the protective curses that were protecting the castle a few hours ago from the darkest forces that could be in the magical world. She wasn't even sure that the barriers should be removed so quickly, so she decided to leave a few still intact just in case any death eater dare penetrate the castle walls again.

'Yes Hermione. I want to do this', Harry said with tears in his eyes, 'I don't know how much of a difference it will make but I need to try.'

'Well then get on with it!' Ron said trying to make them hurry up and he saw Ginny coming out of the castle, obviously looking for Harry, 'go on quickly. Before she sees you and before anyone sees you two!'

Hermione took up the pendant on the chain and turned it a few times, and she and Harry both waited and watched as the world around them rewound itself right before their eyes. They saw Hagrid fetching Harry towards the entrance of the castle, Neville running forward to try to save him. They saw the students' faces as they realised that Harry Potter was dead, or thought he was and Harry noted something else for the first time. At the time when he was pretending to be dead, he saw that Professor McGonagall had tried to run forward to face Voldemort on her own, tears in her eyes and her hair dishevelled. If Professor Sprout didn't hold her back, she would have braved fighting Voldemort on her own. He saw Ginny being held back by a crying Luna as she frantically struggled to run forward as well. As he watched all of these events rewind, he wanted to cry even more just thinking of what COULD have happened to him and the people he cared so much for in those few minutes that had passed before he killed Voldemort.

'Okay Harry, this is it, I'm sure. Let's go!' Hermione cried and she took Harry's hand and pulled him forward. They had reached at the time when the war was full swing. Sparks flew here and there and there were loud explosions all around them.

She pulled him into a bush not far from where the forbidden forest begun and lay her finger on her lips.

'Now according to you, you said that when Professor McGonagall tried to duel with Snape, he went through the castle wall and towards the Forbidden Forest?'

'Yes. I think so, I saw him flying towards that part of the grounds', Harry said, trying as hard as he could to remember if he had indeed seen that. For them to go and waste time searching for Snape within the forest and him not turning up to be there would not be good.

'Alright, let's go then!'

Harry threw on the Invisibility Cloak over him and Hermione before they continued. They ran towards the Forbidden Forest, and even before they could venture forth to find Snape, they saw him coming out from within the forest.

'So he had already received Voldemort's order to go see him immediately', Harry whispered and suddenly it hit him.

'Hermione', he whispered and pulled on her hand quickly, 'how are we going to prevent him from going to Voldemort?'

'Well its obvious isn't it?' Hermione said turning around to look at him, 'we use a distraction.'

Harry seriously didn't like where this plan was heading and he surely didn't want to foresee the results. He was very fearful but yet he trusted Hermione.

'What is the distraction, Hermione?' he asked.

'YOU, Harry', she said and pulled the cloak off of him then pushed him forward as Snape came their way, in his usual stiff stride.

Harry was thrown off balance at her actions, he took a little while to compose himself and realised that Snape was coming his way. Before he could grab out and try to find Hermione under the Invisibility Cloak, Snape saw him.

'POTTER!' he cried and stopped, his wand pointed in Harry's direction looking at him coldly, 'what are you doing here?'

Harry's throat suddenly turned parched and he didn't and couldn't say anything. He was thinking over and over in his mind that Snape wouldn't hurt him. After he had been trying to help HIM, Snape wouldn't try to hurt him. He just couldn't...could he?

'YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?' Snape suddenly said and Harry stared at him, his eyes widening. So he was right! Snape had known all along what Harry's intentions had been that night. He was somewhat relieved that he didn't have to duel Snape.

'Yes. I...'

'Then GO and find it IMMEDIATELY!' Snape said and actually began to walk away from Harry and towards the direction of the Shrieking Shack as if he didn't really care whether he had seen Harry or not.

'NO! Wait!' he cried and ran towards Snape who turned with a surprised expression on his face, 'you can't go there, Professor!'

'What?'

'You can't go there! Voldemort is going to kill you!' Harry cried and knew that Snape was trying to read his mind. The black eyes were penetrating into his mind as he looked at Snape and he was actually glad Snape was doing it. Suddenly, Snape's eyes opened wide and he slowly advanced on Harry. The latter was so scared that Snape might kill him or stun him, he started to back away.

'Potter, what is going on?' Snape asked with a confused expression on his face, his eyes boring into Harry's mind.

Harry knew Snape had seen into his mind and saw the memory he had of Voldemort setting Nagini on him. He knew Snape saw himself lying on the ground as Harry stooped to look at him. Snape would have also seen when he had given Harry his memories, before he had died.

'There is too little time to explain!' Harry cried and suddenly, Hermione threw off the cloak and stepped forward.

'Professor, we, Harry and I have come back into the past to save your life! You see this chain', she said and her fingers were trembling as she pulled it out of her blouse and showed it to him, 'it's a chain that takes you back in time...'

'I know that chain', Snape said and he had a very weird expression on his face, 'but why have you come back? What happened? WHY HAVE YOU COME BACK POTTER?'

Harry saw that Snape looked very frightened and confused. He seemed to understand what was going on and yet at the same time, he looked angry.

'Potter and Granger, I understand what is going on but are you seriously stupid? You have now altered what is SUPPOSED to happen that will lead up to what you are SUPPOSED to do! I just saw within your memories that I died and then I gived you my memories! How am I supposed...'

'We have no time to explain Professor! Please trust us! PLEASE! Just once please trust us! We are about to go into the tunnel within the Whomping Willow, Professor!' Hermione cried, 'you must go now and give the other Harry your memories before he goes into the Shrieking Shack!'

And suddenly, the ground began to tremble as both Hermione and Harry knew what was about to happen. There came the giants chasing a dirty faced Ron, Hermione and Harry as they were obviously running towards the Whomping Willow. Before Harry knew what was going on, Hermione threw the Invisibility Cloak over him and her.

'Stupefy!' she yelled, pointing her wand towards the giant and he fell forward and created an earthquake as he hit the ground.

The other Ron, Hermione and Harry immediately got to the clearing where Snape stood, looking shocked and as confused as ever and they drew their wands, ready to duel him.

'Get away Snape!' the other Harry yelled, 'or else I will have no choice but to kill you!'

Snape disarmed them all with a flick of his wand and slowly advanced on the other Harry.

'Listen to me', Snape said and Harry beneath the cloak could see Snape's hand trembling as he was debating in his mind what to do.

'WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU SNAPE?' the other Harry cried and tried to reach for his wand but Snape waved his wand and collected all three.

'LISTEN TO ME OR ELSE YOU WILL SUFFER POTTER!' Snape shouted and took a flask out of his cloak. As a Potions Master, he always kept a small flask or two on his person. He quickly tipped is wand to his temple and out came strands of memories that the Harry under the cloak had seen already. He then walked forward and gived Harry the flask.

'What is this for?' the other Harry asked and the other Hermione and Ron were staring at Snape as if he was an alien.

'MEMORIES POTTER, now listen to me and listen carefully. I know you don't trust me at the moment but this is for your own good. I need you to go NOW into Dumbledore's office, get there now! I need you to look at these memories and Granger and Weasley', Snape continued looking at them, 'I need you to go back to the castle NOW. Do not go after Harry, he will know what to do when he is ready. You must go now Potter or else you will regret it all.'

'Why should I trust you?' Harry asked and Snape went forward and pushed him into a tree and stared him in his eyes.

'POTTER, I AM ON YOUR SIDE. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ON YOUR SIDE AND I DIDN'T KILL DUMBLEDORE ON MY OWN FREE WILL! IT WAS HIS ORDERS! I KNOW YOU NEVER LIKED ME OR TRUSTED ME BUT TRUST ME NOW OR ELSE YOU WILL DIE! TAKE THIS AND GO NOW. I WILL EXPLAIN LATER IF I AM NOT DEAD BY THEN, NOR YOU.'

And with that Snape released him and dropped their wands on the ground and stalked off leaving the other Hermione, Ron and Harry staring after him. The other Harry then looked at the other two.

'I don't know why but I believe him', he said and looked at the flask, 'listen you guys go back and do as he said, I will do my part now.'

'But Harry!' Hermione cried looking at him, 'do you trust Snape? I mean, it could be a set up!'

'I don't think it is', Harry said looking at both of them, 'why would he give me his memories? I have to see them. Snape wouldn't do that! Give ME his memories? This has to be important!'

'Harry! Listen to you!' Ron shouted looking at him, 'we don't trust THAT MAN ANYMORE! HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE!'

'RON! RIGHT NOW I DON'T HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE DO I?' Harry shouted, 'PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! I DONT KNOW WHY BUT I BELIEVE HIM! HONESTLY, SOMETHING IS TELLING ME TO DO THIS. I MUST DO THIS NOW!'

'I don't believe you Harry!' Hermione cried, 'but I guess we can stall a little time. You must hurry though! Go on!'

And she pulled Ron with her and they ran towards the castle. Harry looked at the flask one last time and then ran after them.

The Harry and Hermione under the cloak set of in Snape's direction, because Harry demanded that he NEEDED to make sure Snape didn't go after Voldemort. He didn't want anything to happen to the man. After all this, Harry didn't want anything to go wrong. They saw him making his way towards the castle and Harry yelled out his name, making him turn back.

Harry remained under the cloak and said, 'Professor you must go now! Go somewhere he can't find you! Voldemort wants to kill you!'

Snape looked in the direction of his voice and said, 'Potter, in case you haven't noticed, there is a war going on and I need to help, I need to...'

'YOU'RE NOT WANTED IN THE CASTLE!' Harry cried , 'THE OTHER PROFESSORS ARE GOING TO TRY AND KILL YOU! VOLDEMORT WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME NOW AND GO AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM HERE!'

'HARRY I AM FULLY CAPABLE TO DEFEND MYSELF IF I AM ATTACKED! HOWEVER, I MUST ADMIT THAT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING MAKES SENSE. BECAUSE OF YOU I AM NOW THE MOST UNDESIRABLE NUMBER TWO. TO THE PROFESSORS AND THE DARK LORD BUT I WOULDNT GO BACK. I WILL TRUST YOU AND FLEE. BUT I WANT YOU TO DO ONE THING FOR ME IN RETURN.'

'What is that Professor?' Harry asked under the cloak.

'When time returns to normal, I need you to not tell anyone what you did. I thank you both for what you have decided to do and I must say that I was fearful indeed of him killing me at some time. Because you have saved me, or at least for the moment, I must give you this', and he reached into his robes and took from his neck, a very colourful charm chain then he handed it to Hermione instead of Harry.

'Make sure he gets this when everything is over. And Harry', he said reading to move on, 'we need to talk after this. WHEN you kill HIM, use the chain to summon me. I will be waiting', and he looked one last time at Harry and then Hermione and stalked off.

Harry and Hermione watched him walk out the castle gates and he disapparated there to somewhere neither of them knew where.

Both of them went towards the direction of the castle and waited out the events that were supposed to follow after. They watched a while after as the other Harry was once again carried forward in Hagrid's arms towards the front entrance of the castle. They watched as the students as well as the Professors came out.

'I wonder what Voldemort did when Snape didn't show up', Harry asked as they watched

'Well as stupid and ignorant as he is, he probably sent death eaters after Snape but I am sure Snape had escaped.'

Both Harry and Hermione smiled as the waited and when the time had been set back to normal and they were now standing on the castle grounds AFTER the defeat of Voldemort, they explained everything to Ron, Ginny and Luna.

'WOW!' both Ginny and Luna exclaimed when they had finished.

'So Snape was always on your side, Harry', Luna said and smiled.

'And he didn't kill Dumbledore of his own will!' Ginny cried as she hugged Harry.

'But', Hermione said, 'I wonder where he escaped to?'

And they all smiled.

...

About a week after Voldemort had been defeated, Hermione came towards him holding the chain in her hand that Snape had given to her.

'It's time Harry', she whispered and beckoned for Ron to follow her.

'Wait', he said, 'what am I supposed to do with it?'

'Oh look at it Harry', Hermione exclaimed, 'I think you would know what to do with it. After all, it belonged to someone who will always belong to you', and she and Ron walked off, leaving Harry standing in the hallway of Grimmauld's Place, looking at the chain.

The chain was silver and looked almost childish to Harry. There were several charms on it that took on various forms. He fingered the first one at the very top where the clasp was and saw that it was a small swing set. The one following it was a small clump of trees. After that, there was a charm of the Hogwart's Express then another in the shape of a heart with the letter L in the centre.

Lily, Harry suddenly thought, and realised that it had to be his mother's initial.

There was also a small silver doe as well as a small charm with two small thin figures obviously hugging one another. Harry lifted it up closer to his eyes and saw that it was a girl with waist length hair and a boy with shoulder length hair. They were both locked in each other's arms, both kissing each other on the lips. Then the last charm that was at the centre of the chain was a heart shaped locked. Harry opened it and found a small picture of his mother inside on one flap and on the other was a picture of Snape. There was also a piece of paper inside that he took out and unfolded.

'_In times of hardship or despair_

_I always think of you and wish you were here_

_The memories that we had will always be precious to me_

_You are my only love, my dearest Lily'_

Harry felt tears forming in his eyes as he reread the poem that was in Snape's handwriting and he smiled. Snape really had loved his mother ALL this time. He then turned over the small piece of paper and read the back.

'_Charms of memories we both shared'_

And suddenly he realised what the charms were about.

The first one which was the swing set had to be significant of the first time Snape met his mother. She was on a swing, Harry could clearly remember.

The second was a clump of trees that he believed to be a memory symbol of that time Snape and his mother had a picnic in the park. He could have sworn he had seen trees behind them. It could have been something different but he couldn't think of any right now.

The third one was of the Hogwart's Express and Harry could bet a million that that was probably the most memorable for both his mother and Snape. They were finally off to Hogwarts together, a place where both of them could feel comfortable in.

The heart with his mother's initial on it was a bit hard to figure out but Harry figured that Snape had been given that by her.

As for the silver doe, he now knew that his mother's patronus had been such and when she died, Snape's patronus took up that form out of his love for her.

The second to last charm shocked Harry the most. He had never really thought of his mother and Snape actually being together in love before she married his father. The charm obviously was depicting his mother as well as Snape locked in each other's arms sharing a kiss that had happened between them. He smiled at such a memory and realised that there was a lot he didn't know about the man before he had seen his memories. He could actually think about liking Snape after all that the man went through to save and protect him.

And the locket was the sweetest of them all, Harry thought as he held it between two fingers. For Snape to have this around his neck after such a long time, Harry honestly believed that the love Snape had for his mother, was one so pure and deep, very few people in the world could have experience of that feeling.

All the while he was looking at the charms he was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do to summon Snape but then it came to his as if he had known it all along.

Harry threw the chain over his head and it fell unto his chest, the locket still between his fingers. He held it and silently whispered, 'Severus Snape and Lily Evans'. Immediately the locket started to glow and all the charms began to be outlined with light. Before he could even look up, there was Snape standing before him in his usual attire.

His black coat was gathered at his feet and his hands were clasped in front of him as he stared at Harry

'Professor', Harry said looking at him and he actually felt himself smiling.

'Harry Potter', Snape said smiling as well, 'the boy who INDEED lived.'

And even though Harry felt a bit awkward even thinking about it, and he wasn't the sort of person to act on impulse, he found himself rushing forward as he would do whenever he used to see Sirius, and he reached out, hugging Snape. At first Snape was taken aback by the gesture but he as well was feeling not like his usual self and he moved from stiff to actually putting his arms around Harry and hugging him back.

'You have A LOT of explaining to do Professor', Harry said still hugging him.

'I know', and Snape released him and held him at arm's length, 'I just knew you could have done it.'

'I couldn't have done it without you', Harry said smiling, 'the bravest man I ever knew', and they both ventured into the room behind them, where the Weasleys as well as Hermione, Tonks and others greeted Snape with a somewhat warm welcome.

(EEK! I HONESTLY CAN SAY THAT I ALWAYS ALWAYS WANTED SNAPE TO END UP BEING STILL ALIVE AND I JUST HAD TO SPIN MY WEB IN CREATING A PLOT TO GET HIM BACK INTO THE ENDING PICTURE. IT MIGHT APPEAR A BIT TOO HEDGEY AND SKETCHY BUT THE THOUGHTS WERE FLOWING SO FAST WHEN I WAS TYPING ONE SHOT, THAT I JUST TYPED AWAY. ITS LIKE THE IDEA WAS IN MY HEAD FOR OVER A YEAR NOW AND I WAS QUITE IN RAPTURES IN TYPING IT OUT TO SHARE WITH YOU GUYS! I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!)

(PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME IF I MADE ANY MISTAKES OR IF I DIDN'T DO A GREAT JOB. I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL REVIEWS FROM YOU READERS. IT INSPIRES ME TO WRITE MORE AND WRITE IF I MUST, FAR BETTER THAN BEFORE!)


End file.
